Two Gents' Worth
February 28, 2025
They held a Chili Cook-Off in Bandit Town near North Fork in the Sierra this past Saturday, and there were several reasons why I had to head up there. For one thing, I like chili — a lot. And I knew it was going to be a gorgeous autumn day at the 3,000 foot level. …
Read More about Bandit Town’s Hot ChiliThey put on another Old Timers Day Parade in Madera this past Saturday. In a related story, I dressed up as a Victorian dandy. Now that I have your attention, I hope, let’s move on. First — the parade. They’ve been having one in honor of Old Timers for more than 90 years in Madera,…
Read More about A Dandy in MaderaThe calendar tells us — and our temperatures confirm — that autumn has arrived here in the Valley. Of all our seasons — autumn is our Emma Peel. The most beautiful. If you’re not familiar with Emma — I invite you to Google “The Avengers” TV show from the 1960’s. The lovely Emma — played…
Read More about It’s Emma Peel Time
I took a hike in the Sierra the other day — a trek that propelled me back into my parents’ past. My guides were Connie Popelish and Michael Olwyler — who likely know more about the history and topography of that part of the Sierra surrounding North Fork in Madera County than anyone else alive. …
Read More about My Hike in the SierraMy brother Ken passed away a few days ago. He was 83. Over the past 10 years, he had suffered from several serious, but manageable, diseases. But his last few weeks saw him battling horrible and impossible-to-overcome ailments, and it became clear that his time had come. And it did. Ken and I were never…
Read More about Memories of My BrotherThe other day, I saw a couple of videos that someone had just put on the Channel 30 alumni website in Fresno — and they sent me onto a trip down Memory Lane. Channel 30 Action News was where I got my first TV news job. I was 23 years old — barely, if at…
Read More about Remembering “That Guy”
It was on the 10th day of our most recent vacation — last Tuesday afternoon, to be precise — when I made the type of mistake that you remember all your life. So naturally, I feel compelled to tell you about it. I was inside the women’s restroom at the Shell gas station in Hood…
Read More about To Ames and BackIn my last posting, I riffed about going back to my alma mater — Fresno State — for the first time in decades. I was doing research in the campus library last Friday, and being there — on campus, that is — generated a whole lot of memories. Well, I went back again today for…
Read More about More memories? Oh, yes
I took a trip back to my past this Friday when I returned to my university alma mater for the first time in years. I had to go to the library at California State University, Fresno (which we locals call “Fresno State”) to conduct research for a report I’m doing for the Madera County Historical…
Read More about Back to CampusSomething’s been rattling around inside my brain for a couple of months now, so I figure I’ll kick it out here, and we can both forget it. It was something Steve Karlin — the great 6 and 10 p.m. anchor on KCCI-TV in Des Moines — said on his last newscast before he retired. Trying…
Read More about Still Curious